Daily Archives: September 18, 2009

Happy weekend everyone! I got my weekend off to a most excellent start – with a Friday off!! Ooohhhh, it was glorious. I slept in until 8am, but after a very late evening, so I sort of felt like I’d been run over by a truck. I was croaking for two things – coffee and waffles.

Maple cinnamon waffles with almond butter and blueberry jam and a few grapes on the side. This was supposed to be a light breakfast because I had step class an hour later. But the behemoth-sized mug of coffee I had filled me up soooo much! Oops.

To be honest, I was kind of scared for BodyStep. I’d watched the videos of the moves online. Or rather, studied, full of hesitation and fear. I thought I’d be lucky to make it out of the class alive, or even with my ego intact! Here’s a breakdown of what the class looked like.

Warmup

Step warmup (easy moves on the step)

Step orientation (more easy stuff, but a little faster with some jumps)

Step athletic (lotsa moving, getting the heart rate up)

Mixed strength (a mix of steps and squats)

Power peak (intense, confusing)

Step recovery

Party step (fun and silly, kinda do what you want)

Speed step (on a low step, moving your feet super fast)

Recovery/Push-ups/Abdominals (to get a little whole-body work in)

Cooldown/Stretch

So my verdict? I absolutely LOVED it!! Who woulda thought? I’m a really clumsy person, and thought I would be in over my head. Granted, at times it was a little too complicated for me. But I think I could really get into it after a few more classes.

I also took this at the “women’s only” location, so it was smaller and more “communal.” The instructor was amazing. And everyone in the class was at all different levels, doing a variety of different step options that I could mimic.

Oh, and I burned almost 400 calories, which is pretty good for me. I burn only slightly more in spin class, so you know it was intense!

The rest of my day wasn’t really noteworthy. Vegged out for a little bit, ran a bunch of errands around town. Had a wonderful “snacky” lunch.

I was supposed to make a special feast for Chris and I tonight, but I forgot to buy the key ingredient! It was too late to go back and get it, so we ended up just going out for dinner. There’s a music festival going on downtown this weekend, so in order to avoid the crowds, we went across the river for some pub fare.

The Cannon’s Cross Pub to be exact. The same people who own the Snooty Fox, where I frequent, um, frequently.

Chris ordered his usual mountain o’ nachos.

So eager to dig in he couldn’t even wait for me to take a photo!

I went for the Chef’s salad, as I was really craving some plain meat and veggies.

Just a regular garden salad topped with grilled chicken, ham and a boiled egg. I ordered it without cheese, and got some light Italian that I drizzled on post-photo.

Exciting news: Chris is going to run the race with me on Sunday!! Well, maybe. He’s never actually ran before, but we both think he could do the 5k. He’s in crazy good shape from cycling. He’d have no cardiovascular problem getting through it, it would just be a shock to his legs and joints I think. We went out and bought proper running shoes for him tonight (he liked the New Balance). Even if he decides against the race on Sunday, he’s going to take up running as it gets too cold for road biking here. Yay for running buddies!

To be honest, I think he just wants to get good enough to beat me :P

Sorry I don’t have much more for you tonight! I was actually hoping to have a video post up on how to make a breakfast cookie. But it’s a “hugh jass” file as they say, and has 10 hours left to upload!! No, I didn’t film a 4 hour documentary on the breakfast cookie, Chris just felt the resolution needed to be high enough to see my pores. Hopefully it’ll be up tomorrow!

Question of the day: Do you prefer working out alone or with others? Ultimately, I prefer alone, as my exercise time is my “me time.” But it’s really nice to have a companion sometimes, keeps it fun and light :)

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Welcome!

My name is Susan, I'm a 20-something living in Atlantic Canada and this is my blog about... me. I used to blog about food and fitness, but that all changed in June 2011 when I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. After six months of chemotherapy, I was declared cancer-free in January 2012. I now write about anything and everything as I stumble through my post-cancer world. I'm a trained journalist currently working as a writer/researcher. I also have a background in personal fitness training and nutrition. Welcome to my piece of the internet!
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